derby



2 Sheets-Sh-eet I.

Patented May 30; I899.

J. H. DERBY.

AUTOMATIC VALVE.

(Application filed Apr. 15, 189B.)

a f\\\\ L (No Model.)

lNVENTUfi Kwmfi By I ATTORNEY.

W/ TNE SSE S No. 625,748. Patented May 30, I899. J. H. DERBY.

AUTOMATIG VALVE.'

(Application filed Apr. 15, 1898.)

(No Model.) 2SheetsSheet 2.

Wii/fiim Wu WITNESSES: IVE/V706 Z.w.\9.3%MMLu.T K

I B) S QW I fifdwaim,

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. DERBY, 01 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO EVERETT D. OHADVVIOK, TRUSTEE, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC VALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,748, dated May 30, 1899.

Application filed April 15, 1898- T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. DERBY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Valves, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to automatic valves that is to say, to valves which are designed to operate automatically as soon as the resultant pressure within or upon them reaches a predetermined amount.

My invention is shown and described herein as embodied in a dry valve for use in connection with automatic fire-extinguishing systems, it being more particularly intended for that purpose.

The function of a dry valve is to normally keep the water out of the systemjof sprinkling-pipes and to open automatically in case of fire to admit the Water to said pipes. It is a common practice to keep these dry valves closed bypumping air into the system of pi pes until its pressure is sufficient to hold the valve. closed against the pressure of the water in the inlet-pipe, the compressed air being automatically liberated upon the occurrence of a fire and the valve being thereupon forced open by the water-pressure. Inasmuch as the pressure of the Water-supply per square inch is often considerably greater than it is desirable to give to the air in the pipe system, thevalve must in such a case be provided with some means whereby the effect of the air-pressure may be increased, and a main feature of my present invention relates to means whereby this result may be accomplished.

My invention in its preferred form also operates to lock the Valve against closing after it has once beeri opened, this being desirable for reasons hereinafter set forth.

A preferred form of my invention embodying the features just referred to, together with certain others hereinafter described, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a central vertical sectionof a completevalve. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 0: a in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail section on the same plane as Fig. 1, showing a serial No. 677,656. (No model.)

modification hereinafter described. Figs.4

of any desired construction, so long as it provides for the properoperation of said mechanism. I prefer, however, to employ the casing shown in the drawings, which comprises an outer casing a and an inner casing 12, the latter being suspended within the former to provide a passage between the two for the water to flow through when the valve is open. The

outer casing a has substantially the form of a cylinder flattened on one side, said flat portion consistingof a removable cover 2, adapted to be bolted to the body of the casing, as shown, and covering an aperture of sufficient size to permit of the insertion and removal of the inner casing 19 through the same. The casing 01. has also a water-inlet 3 at one end and an outlet 4 at its other end and is flanged at both ends, so that it may be conveniently bolted to the water-supply pipe and to the system of sprinkling-pipes. The inner casing 1) is-also substantially cylindrical in shape and is secured to the casing a, as by means of a flange 5 at its upper end, which is held within an annular groove 6 of corresponding dimensions formed in the casing a and. cover 2 and is clamped therein by said cover when the latter is in place. The casing 12 is thus rigidly suspended Within the casing a, but may be removed therefrom after the cover'2 has been taken off. Large apertures c are provided in the side walls of the casing 19 below the flange 5 for the passage of the water, and below said apertures the top of the casing is closed for a purpose which will presently appear. A removable hand-plate 42 gives access to the interior of the casing 12 when desired.

The Water-inlet 3 is normally closed by a suitable valve-proper, which may be a circu- 5 lar plate 7, seating against a valve-seat 8 and having a stem 9 extending upward into a loosely-fitting tube 10, which is secured to the casing b, as at 11, and acts as a guide for said stem 9. I also attach, preferably, a suppleclosed.

seat8,

triangular and the perforation circular is to mentaryguide. to :the bottom of the plate 7, which guide may consist of a triangular rod 12, screwed into the bottom of the plate 7 and arranged to slide in a circular perforation formed in a cross-bar 13, secured to the valve- The purpose of making the rod 12 secure a three-point-contact guide, the corrosive action of the water being much less in such a construction than where considerable areas of the moving parts are in sliding contact with each other.

The operating mechanism for the valve proper, 7, is contained within the casing 12, and one of its elements is a movable plate 14,

which is in communication with the system of sprinkling-pipes on one of its sides only, its'other side being exposed to the normal atmospheric pressure'by means of a pipe 15, open at its outer end and led through a packing box 16 into a chamber 17, provided in the casingb and normally closed by the plate 14. 'Thus when the sprinkling-pipes contain compressed air its pressure is operative upon themovable plate 14 and is transferred thence to 1 the-valve proper by means of suitable intermediate ,mechanism, which may-consist of links 1 8, each pivoted at oneend between a =-pairof ears attached to theplate 14 and at The levers '19 are preferably two in number and are piv otedonacrossplate 20, which forms-a part the other end to a lever 19.

ot -the casing 12, in such manner that the free en'd oteach lever 19 will normally bear-upon theend ofthevalve-stem 9 to hold the valve Z-It willbe seen-"that'with the above construction the air-pressure in the'system actsnot on'ly on 'thearea of the'valveproper itself, but also on an additional areafurnished by the movable-plate 14, its effect on both these areas being combined tonormallyhold the valve closed ,-thus permitting'thc use of a lesspressurepersquare inch in the air-system .7 .thanisoppose'd thereto in the inlet 3. If a still further reduction of the-working -airpressure is desired, the levers 19 may be-so pivoted that their respective arms which bear --against theva'lve-stem 9 shall be shorter'than their; arms which are pivoted tothe links 18,

:and=their effectiveness may be increased in ithis manner-to any desired extent. In fact,

the valve may be held closed wholly by means of the pressure transmitted through these" levers' 1-9 incase thelvalve-casing be foranyf zreason so constructed that the valve proper "isnot-itselt' subjected directly to the air-pres- -'surelindhesystem.

1 111 orde-rthata slightunovemcnt-of the plate 14,-maybe SllffiClGIllictO withdraw-the levers19 from the path of the Valve-stem 9 and permit The air pressure in the systemot' -which-the casingaisa part is given access to the underside of theplate 14 through suitable connections with saidsystem,such as -apertures2l and 22, (the latter being'shown' ain dotted lines in :Fig. 1,) formed in the casing'b'and'in the cross-plate 20, respectively.

the valve to open, the-pivots 23, on which said levers rock, should be offset-from -the longitudinal axis of said levers, as shown, it being obvious that the greater the amount of this offsetting the less the angular movement necessary to be given to the levers 19 in order to withdraw them from the valvestem '9.

By means of the arrangement just described the necessary movement of the plate 14 may bemade so small that said plate may consist simply of a flexible diaphragm 14, as illustrated in Fig. 3, secured at its edge to the easing bin such manner as to be air-tight, preferably by making the upper portion of the casing b detach-able and clamping the diaphragm between it and an annular ledge 24, formed on thelower portion of said-casing. The diaphragm "14.(shown in'Figq3) is made of a sheet of rubber of sufficient thickness to withstand the airrpressure in thesystemand stilfened at its center by plates 25 "and'26,

placed above and below it and bolted together, as shown, the lower-plate -26 r-being provided withears'27, to-whichsthe :links 18 are pivoted. The flexibleidiaphragm 144ot courseneed not necessarilybemade of vrubher, but may consist of corrugated sheet metal or any other material .of suificient strength and flexibility.

The pivots 23 arepreferably channeled, as

shown-at 28 in Fig. 5, toprovid ea three-point contact bearing forthe levers 19,for,thereason previously stated in regard to the-valve-guide 12, and for the-same reason the-sidesof the links 18, where they bearagainst the parts to which they are pivoted,-are provided with knife-edges-29.

The movable plate=14 (shown in :Fig. 1) resembles a piston, 'being f ttedto slide easily within thecasing l) andrseating like a Naive against a seat 30in orderto closevthe chamber 17 air-tight. The plate 14preferably-has a three-point contact with the casing 12, as illustrated in Fig.2. Iprefer. to providefor a yielding contact betweensaid plate and itsseat 30, since otherwise avery accu rate adjustment of the parts of-thevalvewouldbenecessaryin order to insure thecontact of the valve7 and the plate 14 with their respectiveseatssimul- 'taneouslywiththefirm pressure of the levers 19 on thevalve-stem 9. Arough adj ustment -ot' these-parts maybe provided for by mak- 1 ing upwardly, as-at 32,-to'bear against the seat 30, thus a forming a species of elastic packing. It will be seen that :the outer or free edge 33 of the packing-ring 31 is normally subjected on both its top and bottom to the pressure Within the casing, and hence cannot be deformed in any way by said pressure.

The operation of my valve maybe described as follows: Suppose the parts to be in the positions shown in Fig. 1 and the system of sprinkling-pipes, including, of course, the easing aand all of casing 19 below the plate 14, to be filled with air sufficiently compressed to hold the valve 7 closed against the pres sure of'the water in the inlet 3 in the manner above set forth. If now by reason of a' fire at the remote sprinklers or from any other cause the air in the system be allowed to escape, its pressure will be quickly diminished so much that the water pressure acting against the valve 7, and thereby transmitted through the levers 19 and links 18 to the plate 14, will draw said plate downward a sufficient distance to permit the stem 9 of the valve to pass upward between the ends of the levers 19, thus opening the valve and allowing the water to flood the system. After the valve has once been opened it. is desirable that it should be positively locked open in order to prevent water-columningi. e., the accidental closing of the valve and the holding of it closed by the weight of the watercolumn in the system of pipes after they have been filledand I am able to accomplish this result in my valve by simply reducing the size of the'valvestem 9 for a short distance below its head,as at 34, the reduced diameter being not greater than the distance between the ends of the levers 1.9 when in the position shown in Fig. 1. When thus constructed, the water on passing through the valve immediately rushes into the casing 12 through the apertures 21 and 22 and forces the plate 14 upward into its' normal position, in which action it is assisted by the striking of the head of the valve-stem against a butter 35 on the plate 14,,and thereby the free'ends of the levers 19 are made to en ter the groove 34 and engage with the under side of the head of the valve-stem 9, and thus prevent the valve from closing. The plate 14 is held firmly pressed upward by the waterpressure until it is desired to set the valve again, which is accomplished by turning off the watersupply and draining the system through a pipe 36, which also serves as a leakage-drain and should beconnected with an automatic alarm-trap. hen the system has been drained, the plate 14 will fall of its own weight, and thus allow the valve to close, after which compressed air is pumped into the system again and immediately raises theplate 14 to its seat and locks the valve closed.

It is sometimes desirable to cause the opening of the valve to give an alarm, and I have devised an arrangement for this purpose comprising two insulated metallic clips 37,,secured to the casing 12 and connected to eachother by an insulated wire 38, which is carried through the external casing a at any convenient point, preferably by being passed into the chamber 17 and out through the pipe 15,

from all of which it is insulated. It is then connected with an electric battery and a bellalarm, the other terminal of which is electrically connected directly to the casing a, as at 39. The clips 37 are normally just out of contact with the valve-stem 9, which tapers outwardly below said clips, as shown at 40, so that upon the rising of the valve as itopens the tapering portion of the stem 9 will make contact with the clips, and thus establish an electric circuit through the alarm and cause the latter to ring.

I claim as my invention 1. In an automatic valve, a valve proper, a pressure-operated plate having a flexible seat, and one or more levers each positivelyconnected at one end to said plate and arranged to have its other end held thereby in engagement with the valve proper to hold it closed, said levers being disconnected from said valve proper and adapted to be moved out of the path thereof when the pressure on said plate is reduced.

2. In an automatic valve, a valve proper havinga stem, pivoted levers arranged to bear against said stem to hold the valve closed,-

said levers being disconnected from said stem and having their pivots offset, as set forth,

and a pressure-operated plate provided with a flexible seat and positively connected to said levers, whereby the pressure on said plate is directly opposed to the pressure on the valve proper.

3. In an automatic valve, the combination with a valve proper of locking mechanism arranged to positively lock said valve proper against closing after it has once been opened,

and means actuated by the pressure of the entering fluid for positively operating said locking mechanism.

4. In an automatic valve, a valve proper having a recessed stem, one or more lockinglevers arranged to engage said stem when the valve proper is open, and a movable plateexposed to the pressure of the entering fluid and connected to said lever or lovers to operate the same. i r

5. In an automatic valve normally containing air under pressure, the combination with a valve proper of lockin g mechanism arranged a to hold said valve either open or closed, said mechanism being positively actuated by the air-pressure when the valve is closed and by the pressure of the entering fluid when the valve is open.

' 6. In an automatic valvenormally containingair under pressure,in combination,a valve proper, a movable plate subject to the airpressure in the system when said valve proper is closed and to the pressure of the entering fluid when said valve proper is open, and. one

or more levers connected to said plate and arranged to engage the valve proper to lock the same in either its closed or its open position.

7. In an automatic valve, a valve proper having a headed stem, locking mechanism adapted to engage said head'either above or below the same, and apre'ssure-operated plate arranged to actuate said locking mechanism.

8. In 'anauto'mati'cvalve, a valve proper having aheade'd stem, pivoted levers arranged tobear against said headeither above 'orb'elow the same and having their pivots offset asset f-orth,an'd*-'a pressure-operated plate connected to said levers to actuate the same. a 9. ln an autoin 'atic valve normally contain-= ing air under pressure, 'a casing containing the valve proper, a second ca-sing provided With a chamber communicating with the extern'al air, a movable plate form in g one Wall ofsai-d chamber and exposed to the pressure in -the s'ystexngandlockin g mech ani-smfor said I valve actuated by said plate when under pres- SU-T'! I 10, In an automatic valve normally contain ing air 'un'der'p'ressure, a valve proper, valvelocking mechanism, a chamber communicat' ing with the 'externalaim anda sli'dingp'late exposed to the pressure in the system and connected to said lock-in g mechanism to -op-' erate'the'same, said "platebeing provided with" a flexible packing whereby it is adapted-to close said=chamber-air='tight.

'11. In an automatic valve, in combination, an" outer casing provided with an-inlet and an outlet, an inner casing 'su'spendedwithi'n said outer casing in such manneras to leavea free passage from-said inlet-to said outlet,- a valve proper adapted to close said inlet andhav'ing a stem extending into the inner' ca'sing, a

pressure-operated plate contained in said inner casi'n g, and valve-lockin g mechanisin 'con nected to said plate;

12; In'an automatic 'va'lve normally con-w tainingair underpressu're, the -'combination I of an outer casing provided with a "valve proper, an i-nnerc'asing suspended within "said 1 outercasing and communicating therewith a chamber in "said inner casi-ng c'ommuni'catin g with the'ex ternalair, a movable platecios-w i ng said cha-n'lloer on one side and exposed to the pressure in the casings, and valve-lock ing mechanism connected to saidni'ovable:

plate,

13. In an automatic valve norniallycontai nin g air underpressure, the combination ofan -outer and an innerca'sing spaced "apart as described, the outer casing being provided With-an inlet and an outlet, a valveproper adapted "to close said inletan-d having a stem heated to said movable plate and adapted to normally bear agains-tthe stem of said valve extending into the inner casing,"said stem having a groove "or recess for the purposeset forth, levers mounted on-offset pivots in'said inner easinguand arranged to en gagesaid va1ve'='-stem, and a pressure operated plate contained in saidinner casingand'connected "il'IOSELld pivoted levers to'opera-te the same.

5 15; In an"autom-ati'c valve no'rmallyIcom taining air under pressure, the combination of an i outer-and an inner casing spaced apart as described, the outer-casing being provided With'an inlet'and an outletya valve proper adapte'd to close said inletand having astein I extending into the inner easing, pivoted le vers mou'n'ted in sa-i'dinner casing and arranged to bear against said walVe ste'm, a chamber in said inner casing in communication with theexternali air, a sliding plate connected to said pivoted levers and arranged to close'said chamber, and 'a flexible packing located between-said sliding plateand'its "seat; v

3 16. In an automatic valve, 'an ou-ter casing provided withan'inlet and an outlet and havingone of' its *sides'iremovab1e;and an inner ca'sing'ia'dapted to contain valve operating 'mecl1a'nism"and provide'd at-its' top With-means whereby it may be detachably secured within said outer casing in such manner as: to provide a free space betw een thetw'o casings, '1 said'inner casing bein g-removablefrom within said outert-casin'g after the removable 'sideof the latterlhas been taken off.

I 17. In a valve, an outer casin-gfhavingan inlet an'danoutle't and -provi-dedrwitha valve proper-,a detachable plate closing one sideof said casing, said "plate and casing being provided withacircu'mfere ntial groovem-eartheir to ps,-and"andnner casing provide'dhwi'tha flanged top-adapted to tit-said I groove, whereby it may be'rigidlysu spended Within said ofnter casing-to provi-de a freepassa'ge be- I tween the two casings;

1 In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub- 1898. a 5 JOHN H. DERBY.

l Witnesses:

CHADWIGK, ToMLINsoN. 

